June 10, the relationship – Question #3
Are you spiritually hungry and thirsty, or are you easily satisfied with brief moments of religious involvement?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 5:6
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
From the 4th beatitude listed in Matthew’s gospel, hunger and thirst represents an intense spiritual longing. Hunger and thirst are the profoundest of our appetites, and our Lord employed the use of these descriptive expressions to indicate those whose deepest cravings of the soul are after the righteousness of God.
Righteousness represents the object of the soul’s hunger and thirst. Jesus’ words contain a definite article, translating “the righteousness,” thus indicating that He was not speaking of any idea of righteousness (such as a proper religious attitude or conformity to tradition), but the true righteousness that comes from God.
Most of us can acquire water at the turn of a tap or can find some source of food at will. But, not so with this ancient audience of our Lord, wherein so many lived on the edge of starvation and often traveled through desert regions without water. And, as hunger and thirst represent the necessities of the physical life, Jesus’ analogous words demonstrated that righteousness is the necessity of the soul, and not an optional spiritual supplement.
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
“Righteousness” represents the sinner’s justification before God. The Old and New Testament proclaim in unity the righteousness of our Lord, as Paul reflected on the words of the Psalmist,
“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
‘Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered’.” (Romans 4:6-7)
Righteousness also represents the spiritual context of one’s submission to the Lordship of Jesus. This expresses a responsiveness to the righteousness of God, and a genuine conformity to what He desires. This becomes the emphasis of the beatitudes, as one considers the context of the Kingdom principles taught through the Sermon on the Mount. Of such genuine practice of righteousness, Paul stated in Romans 6:13,
“Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness.”
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
In Greek terminology, righteousness represents a right standing with God, and then in conduct a right standing with others. Such righteousness counters the innate wickedness of man who does not revere God nor respect others. And, such righteousness is not earned nor created by man’s religion, but received through faith in Jesus, and responded to from a pursuit of living under the Lordship of Christ.
So, righteousness represents God’s blessing of salvation through the Son, Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the cross offered forgiveness of sins to those who come to Him by faith. Through this glorious miracle of salvation, one is accepted as righteous before God because of what the Son has accomplished. Righteousness further defines the pursuit of the redeemed heart in a desire to align with the righteousness of God in all things. What a glorious truth of redemption, and what a significant calling: living in response to the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 offers a powerful summation:
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This is the very desire of the soul Jesus referenced in the Beatitudes. And, when this becomes the chief passion and affection of the soul, there will indeed be fulfillment: “they shall be filled.”
The reason many Christians run in vain after false affections is because they have not continued to hunger after God’s righteousness. They seek a false satisfaction from that which is material or worldly, when only the spiritual can satisfy.
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
So today, what defines your relationship with Jesus? Do you truly hunger and thirst for righteousness? Or, are you often satisfied with short episodes of religious involvement, like a 10-minute devotional or a once per week worship encounter?
Hunger and thirst after Him. Recognize Him as the chief affection of your life, and the intense craving o fyour soul. You will indeed be amazed at the resulting promise: “and they shall be filled.”
Blessings.
READ
Read Romans 4:1-8 and be renewed in your soul’s appetite for the Righteousness of God in Christ.